Micro Habits and Small Goals

My husband and I went to our local mega-store the other day. Think Costco’s or Sam’s and that is where we were. As we were grabbing our monthly bulk items, I noticed that all the Christmas décor and presents were gone. And in its place was workout gear.

A lot of people think of better health when they think of the New Year. In fact, over 50 percent of Americans want to be healthier. The next most popular resolution is to save money. And people make their New Year resolutions to reflect that.¹

Hard to keep

One thing I have noticed about New Year’s resolutions is that they are so hard to keep. For example, only 9 to 12 percent of people keep their New Year’s resolutions. And to be honest, I have never been a part of that group.¹

Many years ago, I stopped making New Year's resolutions. I learned that it caused me more stress than anything else. Additionally, whenever I would end up quitting, I would feel bad about my lack of discipline.

New year, new method

Instead of making New Year’s resolutions that I would tire of a few weeks into January, I began a new routine. I began setting small goals for myself each month. For example, one small goal I had was to strengthen my lungs. Living with cystic fibrosis means that I am always concerned about my lung health. And part of me taking control of that was by setting a new goal. That looked like getting out a few days a week for a walk and lifting weights.

I didn’t set strict rules on when, how, and what. Instead, I told myself, “I want stronger lungs. What does that look like?” Rather than pushing my body to check off a to-do list and cause myself stress, I listened to my body.

Some days I would go for walks with my husband after dinner. Other days looked like going to the gym and walking on the treadmill while watching a TV show. And other days it looked like staying compliant with my treatments. All those things helped my lungs stay strong and healthy and my cystic fibrosis team was pleased to see I was doing all that I could to better my health.

­Setting small goals

Setting small goals increases your likelihood of having success. Having big goals and dreams is great! But there are often steps we must take for that big dream or goal to be a success. And this is where small goals come into play.

Micro habits are smaller components of a larger habit. When you break down ambitious goals or dreams into smaller parts, micro habits can help you. These micro habits will feed directly into the large habit you want to create.²

For example, when I was younger, I was a long-distance runner. I remember lacing up my shoes and going for 2-hour runs for fun. But I didn’t start out being able to run for long distances. To reach that big goal, I had to break it down into smaller goals.

The first micro habit I had was to go for a walk every day after work. After a couple of weeks, I added to that walk with a little bit of jogging. And after a few months, I was running for longer amounts of time and for longer distances.

Think big, act small

Big shifts take time. And big shifts require small acts of change over a long period of time. Most people are indoctrinated to "thinking big, not executing small.” But that is where change occurs. Changes occur through small shifts in our daily lives.²

This is seen when we make New Year’s resolutions. Typically, we overwhelm ourselves with too many goals all at once. And we haven’t thought of micro habits that will help us create big habit changes.

It is great that you have set big goals and dreams for yourself. Wanting to improve certain aspects of our lives is normal and to be expected. Setting ourselves up for success is so important.

If you have set New Year’s resolutions, look over your goals. As you look over them, see if there are any micro habits you can make. Remember that these micro habits will help you reach your ultimate new habit goal or dream.

Setting up small steps will help you succeed. Not overwhelming yourself, taking small steps, and seeing what improvements have already been made will help you reach your goals.